"I'm one of those people that really doesn't like the idea of ARM
being acquired by a foreign investor," he said. "I don't mind
saying it. I know you can paint a positive picture [of] inward
investment, that's great, but we need big UK tech companies which
are here for the long term and make a big impact. That's a
problem and we need to recognise it."

Yassaie was speaking at the relaunch of NMI, a non-profit
organisation for the semiconductor industry. NMI has become
TechWorks, and expanded to include "deep tech" like artificial
intelligence and the internet of things. The group will lobby
government, and try to encourage UK talent to stay in the UK and
build businesses. Yassaie is currently the group's chairman.

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Speaking to Business Insider, Yassaie said of the ARM
acquisition: "As a British entrepreneur, I would prefer firmly
based UK companies competing on the global stage, securing
business that makes a difference to the country."

"I love Imagination Technologies," Yassaie said, adding about his
departure: "It was quite clear the company, or some of the
shareholders, wanted a different direction. I'm still a
shareholder, and I believe there's a lot of technology in
Imagination. It has a lot of built-in punch, and I'll wait to see
what happens."

Since his departure, he's a become a board member and advisor to
Bristol-based Ultrahaptics, and Australia-based Atomos, a
customer of Imagination Technologies. He's particularly focused
on making sure UK tech talent stays in the UK.

caption

Ultrahaptics CEO Steve Cliffee and CTO Tom Carter

source

Ultrahaptics

During his TechWorks presentation, he showed Oxford University
figures demonstrating that just 11% of UK tech PhD graduates stay
in the UK, while 40% move abroad to work for US tech firms.

"We create this talent, and lose it to the US," he said.

"We haven't been able to create a Google or Apple yet, but we
certainly have the underlying capability to achieve that. Deep
tech is at the centre of that."

Yassaie isn't the first tech figure to speak out since the ARM
acquisition. Ken Mulvany, CEO of artificial intelligence firm
BenevolentAI, has said British startups sell too early.

He told Business Insider in February: There's a real opportunity
to build a business in this country, and there's an opportunity
for the country to lead this sector, and all the pieces are in
place. We've got incredible scientists, incredible
mathematicians, we're able to draw all these people into London."